NEW YORK — In his first analyst meeting as chief executive of United Technologies Corp., Gregory Hayes said Thursday the company has a strong future, even as it released earnings projections that were far short of what Wall Street expected.

Hayes presented a business update to a group of analysts, but he also spent a good deal of time clearing the air of rumors, like whether the company will sell Sikorsky or try to break its latest aircraft engine into the larger plane market.

"So what am I going to do?" Hayes said rhetorically. "Not much different, maybe a little."

Hayes quickly dismissed the idea that the company would sell Sikorsky Aircraft Company, which has thinner profit margins than other United Technologies division. Hayes highlighted that Sikorsky has four of the six largest Pentagon helicopter programs, and landed major new programs this year.

"We are not going to sell Sikorsky," Hayes told analysts, many of whom raised the possibility of a sale in research notes following the management shakeup that put Hayes in charge two weeks ago. In the same presentation, however, Hayes pledged to take a "disciplined and dispassionate" look at the company's portfolio.

"I say Sikorsky is not for sale," he said. "It's not for sale today, … but there are no sacred cows."

To the question of whether United Technologies could possibly split into two companies, one for aerospace and another for commercial building systems, Hayes said that is not in the cards. The size of the company allows it to invest $10 billion into a new Pratt engine, as it has, or make large acquisitions like Goodrich Corp.

But he wouldn't close the door all the way to a split: "If we can't leverage those scale opportunities then perhaps they shouldn't be together."

Hayes also said that Pratt & Whitney, which is expected to have lower profits next year, would not be adding a larger version of its PurePower engine to target the market for larger aircraft.

"We are not going to build a new engine in the wide-body space," Hayes said.

While much of the outlook showed the new chief executive staying the course, the profit numbers the company released were short of Wall Street expectations.

For the last quarter of 2014, United Technologies said it should earn $1.60 a share, almost a dime less than what Wall Street had expected the company to earn.

And for 2015, higher pension costs and the effects of a strengthening dollar will weigh on next year's earnings. The company expects to earn $7.10 per share, a mark that is higher than this year but nearly 20 cents short of what a survey of analysts expected the company to earn next year. United Technologies said sales would be about $65 billion next year.

Hayes directly addressed the lackluster performance of the company's stock. "The returns on this company's stock have not been good in the past couple of years," Hayes said. "We have underperformed, full stop."

Hayes said the company would be more aggressive and forceful in the mergers and acquisitions arena, for which the company has set aside $1 billion next year.

"There are opportunities," he said. "There are bigger deals that can and should be done." And if those deals cannot be done, he will add those funds to the $2 billion to $3 billion the company plans to spend on buying back the company's shares.

Hayes also addressed his predecessor, saying former chief executive Louis Chênevert "has left quite a legacy. I have a great team and a great company. … He has left us with a great hand."

Alain Bellemare, chief executive of UTC Propulsion & Aerospace Systems, the division that includes Pratt & Whitney, said the engine maker would have a tough year in 2015.

Sales are projected to increase, but profits will be down for three reasons: higher sales of new engines, which the company loses money on; lower sales of military engines; and higher pension expenses.

Hayes said one of the first calls he made as chief executive was to Gov. Dannel P. Malloy.

"Connecticut will remain the home of UTC well into the future," Hayes said. "It ain't low cost, we've said that before. But it has a very good workforce."